Day 100 - 11/12/08 - Minneapolis, MN, USA
I'm home now. Wow. I'll write a great closing statement soon.
Man, I don't really know how to sum up my trip. It was truly incredible, I just don't have the words to convey my experience properly. I think I would just like to say thank you to God and everyone that helped make my voyage possible and so successful. Thank you.
I would also like to say congratulations to Frank and Lene back in Norway, whom just gave birth to a wonderful new Norwegian boy named Trym. Congratulations. I would also like to say hello to Trym. Hello.
Go Sail.
Below: A green tile building in Lagos, Portugal; Friends headed for the beach; Myself steering for home.
Day 86 - 10/29/08 - Cascais, Portugal
Well it looks like I'll be spending one more day in Portugal. Our rescue boat needed some maintenance, so the decision was made to take care of that before we get underway for Spain.
I have a fortnight left now of my journey. And as I sit in the twilight of this adventure, I know that this trip has been good for me and that I'm ready to come home. I miss my friends and family, and I haven't sat on a couch for 2 and a half months.
Below: Me on top of the world
Day 85 - 10/28/08 - Cascais, Portugal
Portugal has been great. I really have enjoyed the sights. We were able to get a lot of major work done on the ship during the last week and I must say that she's looking good.
Early I took a day trip to Lisbon with a couple of friends. We went to a Moorish castle at the highest point of the city, the view was incredible. Parts of the castle date back to the 600's.
Today I took another day to Sintra, which also has a Moorish castle. This castle was unfortunately closed by the time we arrived, so we hopped a fence and stormed the castle with an army of four. We never actually made to the castle, but ended up with another great view of a European city. It was nice little Tuesday.
Tomorrow we should be setting sail for Mallorca, Spain which is where my voyage will come to a close. I have 15 days left and hope to make the best of them.
Below are photos from Lisbon: A canon at the castle, an "artsy" photo of steps; Stone Angel; trolley service; Cathedral ceiling.
Day 80 - 10/23/08 - Cascais, Portugal
The passage from Spain was rather uneventful, at one point we were doing more than 8 knots, which is probably about 11 mph, or thereabouts. 8 knots is basically flying for us, we usually cruise at about 5. You can see that we aren't in much of hurry to get anywhere.
We dropped anchor in the harbor of Cascais, about 30 miles from Lisbon. The holding for our smaller anchor (500 pounds) wasn't very good and during the night the wind was blowing up to force 6 (22-28 knots, well over 30 mph) and we drug our anchor. Around 5 in the morning the decision was made to drop the port anchor, which is our BIG anchor (over 1,000 pounds). I was fast asleep before the anchor dropped, but there is no sleeping through the noise that dropping that much weight makes, especially with the hundreds of feet of chain that follows the anchor and rattles the whole ship as it passes from the chain locker (room that the chain is stored in) out over the side. To lift both anchors when we leave here will take most of our crew a solid hour I'm sure.
This is a rather beautiful area, with a great rocky coast. I spent most of my first free afternoon with two of my shipmates "geocaching," which is the activity of finding GPS coordinates on a web site, and then following your gps to them. Well that's not a very good explanation. So John, my shipmate, puts these coordinates into is GPS, and it tells him to head 2 miles north, well you can't walk 2 miles north in a straight line, so you end up wandering through the area seeing lots of sights. Our coordinates led us to the coast and down the rocks to base of a cliff, there we found a tiny little plastic box with a notepad and a pencil and few knickknacks. That's pretty much the idea of geocaching, to go on a little treasure hunt and write name in some stranger's notepad. It was actually a lot of fun, a little bit of an adventure and it took us through parts of town and the coast that I'm sure we would have missed out on.
We'll be here a week and will be doing some major projects on the rigging. I'm looking forward to doing some more advanced work on the ship.
Photos from Cascais: silhouette of "Boca do Inferno;" a quaint view; tiled Lighthouse; 2 splashes; a sleepy guy
Day 73 - 10/16/08 - Ares, Spain
So we had a pretty good passage from France down to Spain. Along the way we caught about 7 tuna, and I tried sushi for the first time, it was only about 15 minutes old. I also ate the heart of a tuna and now I have the power of the tuna flowing in me. We were supposed to make port at La Coruna, Spain but due to complications we ended up at the much sleepier fishing village of Ares.
Some of us took a little bus trip to this town, Santiago de Compostelo, which was and still is a major stop for pilgrims. The main cathedral was incredible, it was just like art history class, but for real. As I understand it, the remains of St. James are kept here, but don't quote me on that. However, I did see a very well made coffin underneath the main worship area.
Tomorrow we will set sail for Portugal, we will be going to the Lisbon area. We are told that at this point in the voyage, we will begin experiencing some minor trade-winds. I'm told this should be another short passage, lasting less than a week. From Portugal we will head for the Mediterranean Sea by way of the Straights of Gibraltar, I believe this will be the longest passage that I will take part in, lasting a little more than a week. During the world-voyages that my ship usually sails, most passages last about 2 weeks, so I'm getting off rather easy. In the Med, we will be sailing for Mallorca, Spain, an island about 200 km southish of Barcelona, this port will mark the end of my sailing adventure, but surly not the end of my Adventure.
At this point in my voyage, I am less than a month from my own bed. Wild. I've learned so much on this trip, and some of it is actually practical. Europe is absolutely beautiful, but you know what, so is the Missouri River during the summer. I love sailing, but I'm looking forward to home. I'm currently engaged and unemployed, so my first point of business will be to find my first "real" job. Feel free to hire me.
Below: Biker-Pilgrim; Professional Bubbler; Sunrise in Spain; inside the Santiago Cathedral; Kolin swinging; Nate flipping.
Day 70 - 10/13/08 - Ares, Spain - (I think)
Munch on these photos while I think of stuff to type.
That's me flying through the air. Oh, and I ate the raw heart of the tuna that's being reeled in there.
photo courtesy of John Gareri
Day 63 - 10/5/08 - St. Nazaire, France
Below are photos from a short road trip into the French countryside.
Day 60 - 10/3/08 - St. Nazaire, France
So I've been in France for a few days now and it's been a lot of fun. I spent the first night on dock-watch and then basically first thing in the morning, a few of us hopped on the train to Paris. I spent a night and a day in Paris which is truly a beautiful city. We went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night and saw the Arc de Triumphe the next day. The highlight and purpose of going to Paris for me was to see the Louvre. Wow. What an incredible place. The building itself is an incredible work of art. I saw dozens of incredible works of art that I recall from art history class, including the Mona Lisa. Paris was really great.
Now I'm back in St. Nazaire where our ship is docked. I haven't really seen any of it yet because of the trip to Paris. I know that our ship took part in a raid on this city during WWII when it was a minesweeper from Britain.
Below: France going by at 182 mph from a high-speed train; Night in one of the entry halls to the Louvre courtyard; "Winged Victory" a Greek sculpture; the entrance the Louvre.
Day 57 - 9/30/08 - St. Nazaire, France
We had a wonderful passage from Wales, it seemed like the wind did everything we wanted it to and we had wonderful sunny days. Plenty of dolphin sightings and plenty of sailing made for a rather quick trip.
Below are photos of the headsails; some rough seas; Shackle working on the main-royal; a view from the bow; a look at the footropes; dolphins off the bow; Chibley taking a snooze; my boots; and me on the fore-t 'gallant
Day 50 - 9/23/08 - Milford Haven, Wales
I think I'll try to start making an attempt at explaining all of the different work that is done by trainees, like myself on board. I'll break it up into different categories. Today I'll do Sail Handling.
Sail Handling
Stowing sail
When stowing sail at sea, we usual don't take the time to fold or roll up the canvas nicely or evenly. On a sail like the Royals, which are our smallest square sails, all the way at the top, it only takes two people to stow properly. On the other hand, the Main sail, which is one of our largest square sails, it takes about 8 people. Square sails are usually rolled a bit and then tucked into itself to make a sort of canvas burrito. We then take line that is fastened to the yards and wrap around the canvas to make it fast to the yard. Staysails, which are the triangular sails that hang between the mast, are usually a little more difficult to stow in my opinion, but are basically stowed like a square sail that has been turned over 90 degrees. The headsails are the triangular sails that hang down from the Foremast, (the most forward mast) to the bowsprit and jib boom, which are the spars that project forward from the bow, are stowed in more of a folding fashion on top of themselves and onto the spar under them.
When we are in port and have plenty of time to do a nice job we do a "Harbor Stow." A harbor stow is really the same as a regular stow, except care is taking to make everything look even and clean.
Taking in sail
Before we can stow a sail it has to be taken in. Depending on the sail you are talking about all of the squares have a combination of Bunts, Leeches, and Clews, these all refer to a different points on the sail that line are connected to and when you haul on that line, that point on the sail is hoisted up toward the yard which makes it easier for us to then stow the sail. All of the triangular sails have Down hauls, which do exactly that, haul the sail down, gravity of course helps this process at first. Before you can haul a sail down the Halyard, (which hauls the sail up) needs to be cast off, and in the case of the square sails, usually you need to cast off the Sheet ( holds the bottom corners of the sail down) and various other lines.
Loosing and Setting sail
Loosing sail is simply the act of unlashing the sail after its been stowed. The sail of course needs to be loosed before it can be set.
Setting sail of course depends on the sail your dealing with. Generally to set a square sail you need to cast off the gear, which are all of those Bunts, Leeches and Clews I was talking about earlier. Then you "Sheet Home," which is hauling on the sheet which brings the bottom corners of the sail down. Our Upper Topsails, Topgallants, and Royal yards are all hoisted up with the Halyards after sheeting. Hoisting the Royal can be done by one larger person, the topsail yard needs quite a few people.
Bracing
Bracing is the act of adjust the angle of the sails to the wind. Each yard has a brace on both sides, so if you want to haul the Starboard end closer to the ship, you need to ease out the Port brace. Generally before you can brace the Gear from the new Weather side (the side of the ship that wind is going to be coming from) and the Weather Sheets and the Lee ( opposite of Weather) Tack ( line that pulls the bottom corners of the sail forward).
In other news, today I went with a portion of the crew including the Captain to the actual Picton Castle and took a tour of the grounds. The castle was originally built in the year 1300 and has been modernized here and there ever since. Members of the same family lived in the castle from around 1450 to 1997, wow. Beautiful place, the gardens and surrounding grounds are absolutely wonderful and would be a great place to take a lady.
Below we have shipmate Gunner standing on a rock in the center of the Castle's garden maze; shipmate Geoff posing in front of the castle.
Day 48 - 9/21/08 - Milford Haven, Wales
We had great passage from Portsmouth, which included various marine-life sightings. We saw a couple sharks and several dolphins played off the bow of the ship for nearly an hour, I had the incredible view of watching them jump and dive as I climbed aloft onto the topsail yards.
One particularly calm afternoon, we launched one of our boats and everyone got to take turns going out and seeing our ship under full sail. This was actually really exciting, because when you're on the ship you can't ever really get a good view of what the ship looks like.
Yesterday we picked up a group of people that work for the Paul O' Grady show, which apparently is kind of like a British Jay Leno or late night show. They were doing a piece in which they put people from the public into unique situations and let them get a chance at a different lifestyle for the day. We went out for a nice day sail and let them pull on a few lines and get generally overwhelmed.
Below are two shots I took of the ship under all 19 sails, plus one I took during my night watch.
Day 42 - 9/15/08 - Portsmouth, England
I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to my Mom and Megan for all of the typos on this page.
After nearly a week in Ipswich which included two extra days to wait out some ugly weather on the channel we set the diesel for Wales. After about a day and a half of motoring through calm seas we decided to make an unplanned at Portsmouth, this time we are spending two days so the wind can pick up. Portsmouth is nice, we are docked right off from this semi-fancy shopping center and we are right underneath this crazy tower shaped like a sail. Just down the water from us is a historical harbor that houses the remains of the first purpose-built British warship the Mary Rose which was built by Henry the VIII. Also there is one of the last sail-powered naval warships, the Warrior, it's gigantic. My favorite is the restoration of Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson's ship, the Victory, which he heroically sailed during the battle of Trafalgar. In one of the museums they have one of the actual sails from the battle, it was pretty cool to be able to see the cannon ball holes and battle damage.
So I've been gone for longer than Jesus wandered through the wilderness, do I have any profound conclusions to share? I can't really say yet, my trip has been wonderful, a box of chocolates at times, but truly an incredible experience that I'm grateful to have. The sea becalmed is a surreal thing to see at times and the sea angered is a powerful thing and equally wonderful to watch. Europe is exciting and interesting, I wish I could spend more time getting about the different countries. My shipmates are great people coming from 35 or so different trails of life that all intersected on a ship, so wonderful people to share such a voyage with. I'm looking forward to the next two months and all the ports, wind, and waves that they hold.
Below are pictures of our ship drying sails and my shipmates stowing sail at the dock in Ipswich, as well as pictures of the Victory, the crazy tower and some shipmates dancing away at 3 in the afternoon.
Day 36 - 9/9/08 - Ipswich, England
We had nearly a week sail down to England from Germany, we ended up spending three nights on the Dutch coast at anchor due to gale force winds blowing in our faces. Gale force wind is pretty windy. We ended up with a lot of down time which led to a little boredom. We had a reception planned in Ipswich that we couldn't miss, so we waited for a window of calmer winds and made a 30 hour push for England through some pretty good sized waves. I ended up having my first fight with sea sickness that morning, luckily I was able to come out on top after just a few hours of discomfort.
Upon arrival in Ipswich we quickly got the ship ready for a reception that included distinguished guests such as the Mayor himself. Ipswich has been great to us. The ship actually spent 6 months hear about 14 years ago. They had made an unplanned stop here to hide from foul weather and ended up spending the winter while the Captain did some fundraising back home.
I took a train to London for a day and had a great time riding the buses around and gathering quick memories of some good history. I spent quite awhile at the National Gallery, where I was able to see some incredible work.
Tomorrow we should be setting sail for Swansea, Wales which is near the actual castle Picton.
Day 27 - 8/31/08 - Bremerhaven, Germany
So for the third time in a row the ship has attempted to leave a port and gone back for another night. This time it was due to a overwhelming amount of traffic at the little lock we need to squeeze through.
Yesterday, my friend John and I, took a train to Hamburg and had a great walk around the city.
I'm kind of a loss for words right now, but that's our cat down there.
Tomorrow we will set sail for England, we should arrive in Ipswich in about 5 days.
Day 24 - 8/28/08 - Bremerhaven, Germany
Hello from Germany. We had a short passage from Den Helder up the coast and down a river to Bremerhaven. Things are going well and I am feeling pretty good. We are at our last tall ship festival and I'm happy for that, after this we will be simply visiting ports and I think I'll enjoy being away from all of the little trinket tents and long parades we have to walk in.
To get into the harbor we're docked at we had to pass through a lock which was about 10 feet bigger than our ship. It was intense, we barely fit. At one point one of our anchors rubbed on the rail and about 8 of us tried to push the ship away with wooden bars and the the mast of one of our small boats. It was nuts. Speaking of nuts, back when we were in Den Helder and coming back to the dock after a sail-parade we saw to large boats collide. No one was hurt and they barely hit, but it was right in front of our ship.
In Germany you will find:
Lots of ships. Remnants of friendly wooden giants. And meat on comically small buns.
Day 17 - 8/21/08 - Den Helder, the Netherlands
I don't even know what to say about my experience so far. It's been wonderful and challenging to say the least. We experienced cold and rain throughout our crossing of the North Sea, and a couple days of really nice sailing.
Learning has been fun and humbling and even a bit scary. The first time I was allowed aloft, (up the rigging to where the sails are) I was taken up by one of the professional crew members and all we did was climb up and look around from under the half way point. One minute after my training was complete we were sent up to furl the sails (stow them). My third time aloft I went all the way to the royal yard, which is our highest and around 90 feet off the deck. Quite the view, lots of water out there.
We are currently at another tall ships festival and our surrounded by some incredible ships, including one of two of the remaining ship from the commercial fleets that rounded Cape Horn.
Day 16 - 8/20/08 - Den Helder, the Netherlands
I've set foot on solid ground again, and once I sat down I got a little dizzy. I think I need to find my land-legs again. I'll write a bunch tomorrow about all this stuff that's going on, but right now I need to eat. That's me in the yellow.
Day 14 - 8/18/08 - North Sea, nearing Den Helder, Netherlands
By the time I've posted this, I will have crossed the North Sea from Norway to the Netherlands. My first week has been filled to the bursting point with learning. There are around 180 lines on this ship that I have been learning the location, purpose, and proper use of. I've been learning to steer the ship and how to clean dishes on board. I've learned how to properly climb in the rigging all the way up nearly 100 feet to the highest yards, the royals, and I've learned how to loose and stow the sail while up there. I've learned how to don an immersion suit and the location of the 25 fire extinguishers aboard. I've learned the names of my 30-plus shipmates and where there bunks are so I can wake them up at four in the morning for there watch. I've learned knots and whippings and began learning how to sew a sail. I'm learning how to walk in heavier waves and to eat at an inclined table.
So such learning. But it's all been wonderful, it really is hard to explain. We have been using a temporary watch system this passage, that has completely destroyed my previous sleeping pattern. 6 hours working, 5 off, 4 on, 4 off, 5 on, then switch the on and offs.
Day 7 - 8/11/08 - Bergen, Norway
Rain. Lots of Norwegian rain. This town once went 98 days in row with the wet stuff.
Lot's of time spent trying to get orientated. Tomorrow we set sail. This is going to be great.
See you in a week from Den Helder, Netherlands.
Day 6 - 8/10/08 - Bergen, Norway
Today I joined the Picton Castle as a trainee and enjoyed by first day aboard. I was assigned to the 12-4 watch and it was actually our day off. So I played volleyball in part of the crew competitions. We lost in valiant fashion. The rest of the day was spent trying to get to know people's names and trying to orientate myself to my new life.
The crew participated in a parade with the other crews and we all had a great time. After that there was a crew dinner and dance. I sat out of the dance and got to know some more shipmates. After the dance we all sat down with the crew of a Norwegian ship and sang some sea shanties. It was incredible.
Tomorrow is my first day of work and I look forward to starting my training. But I suppose it has already started in a sense.
Day 5 - 8/9/08 - Bergen, Norway
I've made contact with the ship today after a short plane ride up the coast from Kristiansand. Frank (a pilot), was able to get us some really cheap stand-by tickets. The plane got really full, so Frank sat in the cockpit, and I sat on one of the flight attendants seats.
Bergen is pretty far north, it's about on the same line as Anchorage, Alaska. There are so many ships here. Nearly 100, and some of them are just huge. My ship is about 180 feet long, and nearly 100 feet high. There are couple here around 150 feet high. The ships are mainly from Europe, but I saw one from Brazil and a beautiful ship from Mexico.
Tomorrow at 8 a.m. I will officially sign on with the Picton Castle as a trainee. I'm really excited, but it's hard to leave land, where it's easy to contact the world I love. It's going to be great, but hard.
Day 4 - 8/8/08 - Kristiansand, Norway
Happy wedding Stu and Sadie.
Matt Ihmels: I saw Irwin vise grips at a hardware store here in Norway.
I've heard Bob Marley and Bob Dylan here, I also heard Brett Dennen here who's a fairly small time guy that I like from the US.
Today I bought a church-worthy sweater at a European equivalent of a Carhartt store for $10. Also, father bought me a double-cheeseburger meal from McDonald's for $15. FIFTEEN DOLLARS. Could I have any more news?
Well I did go for a very nice boat ride with Frank, Lene, and Dad around the dozens of islands and smaller fjords of Kristiansand. This place is absolutely beautiful. It kind of reminds me of Portland or perhaps British Columbia, but both with way more islands and of course the fjords.
I'm heading for Bergen and the mighty ship tomorrow.
Day 3 - 8/7/08 - Kristiansand, Norway
Today my Norwegian travels started with a tour of cannon that was left over from WWII. This cannon is reportedly the second largest land-mounted cannon in the world and looked every inch the part. We're told it can fire a round 30 miles toward Denmark. The Germans had plans to build it's twin in Denmark so the could cover the whole channel but the war ended before their plans could be completed.
The rest of the day was spent seeing the city and eat fish and chocolate.
Day 2 - 8/6/08 - Copenhagen, Denmark
Landed in Copenhagen, Denmark today. The airline gifted me with 8 full hours to catch my breath between flights, so I decided to take a train into downtown and check things out.
If you ever lose your bike, try looking in Copenhagen, they're everywhere. Besides the bikes, the downtown area was sweet. I walked down by a little canal that was flanked by small restaurants, bikes, street musicians and Danes.
Finally I stepped onto a plane, and an hour later I set my first foot on the Motherland. I'll be spending a few days in Kristiansand, with our family-friends Frank and Lene.
Day 1 - 8/5/08 - US Airports
Today I start my grand adventure. Leaving everyone was hard, almost unbearable at some points. But now I'm off now to see what's out there.